Practical Management of Primary Varicose Veins

Varicose veins cause a great deal of morbidity in our population today. Despite the large amount of surgical time spent dealing with the problem, there is still a disappointingly high recurrence rate and many patients are investigated inadequately before surgery. This review considers the assessment of 'simple' varicose veins using a combination of tourniquet tests and a hand-held doppler probe. The place of more sophisticated investigative techniques is also discussed, in particular the value of duplex assessment in localising the variably sited sapheno-popliteal junction. Routine stripping of the long saphenous vein to the below-knee level is likely to decrease the recurrence rate of simple, long, saphenous varicose veins.